Archive for the ‘Warren Zevon’ Category

So, today is the anniversary of the death of John Lennon. You’re not hearing much about it today as it is not a major date (such as the 25th or 30th). It really bugs me every time it comes up though. Not that it was not tragic. We did lose a great musician/song writer (ok…mediocre songwriter). We didn’t really lose a great humanitarian though. We lost a father who decided to completely ignore his son from his first marriage as if it never happened. We lost someone starving for attention after the collapse of the Beatles phenomenon. Most of all, we lost a posing socialist commie.

Have you ever listened to the lyrics of his most famous song? The song that critics still, to this die, have mini orgasms over?

“Imagine there’s no Heaven…and no Religion too.” No, John. I don’t want to imagine that. That is what Marx, Lenin and Stalin would have us do.

“Imagine there’s no countries, It isn’t hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for…” Yes, let’s have one big world economy and see how long we survive. I remember you were so enamored with no countries that you became a US citizen.

Here is the best one:
“Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man, Imagine all the people, Sharing all the world” Yeah, John. I notice that before your death you were giving up all your millions, your homes and your life style for the “brotherhood of man”.

As you can clearly see, that song is nothing more than a Communist manifesto. Just as with so many of the leftist wackos that are running around Hollywood today, or the Global Warming nut jobs, he wanted all this…but ONLY for others, not himself.

Do you really think he would be as revered today if he was not Anti-war? If he was pro capitalism? Heck no! His death would be another footnote of classic rock tragedies such as Jim Morrison or Janis Joplin. If Paul had died, we would not be celebrating the anniversary of his death even though Paul was a much better song writer/musician than John could ever hope for. Look at the works of Paul from the time the Beatles broke up to Johns death then look at what John did.

As for being such a remarkable song writer…whatever. Throw up songs such as Townshend’s “Love Reign O’er” or Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” or even “Gimmie Shelter” by Jagger/Richards against Lennon’s and his pale in comparison. Lennon wrote tripe such as “Imagine” while Paul wrote “Yesterday”.

You want someone whose song writing should be revered, it is Warren Zevon yet most people don’t even know who he is and couldn’t name a single song. A guy of moral virtue he wasn’t but he sure knew how to write a song. Most people, if anything, only know “Werewolves or London” or “Lawyers, Guns and Money” but his collection of works is stunning. I fell in love with his music, sadly, after his death. His lyrics were pure genius and blow away anything that Lennon and Yoko put out. If you really want to hear good songwriting, buy his last album (that he made in the last year of his life when he knew he had cancer and only months to live) called “The Wind” and I guarantee you will become a fan and want to hear his earlier works.

Anyway, can we please just have a moratorium on celebrating John Lennon as some mystical god-like musician…at least until the 50th anniversary of his death.

Oh! And isn’t it strange that we “celebrate” these deaths as an “anniversary”?

How often have you heard that phrase from some Mom whose kid is running wild in the store or at church? Maybe he is throwing his food across the room at a restaurant and the Mom or Dad just look at you, shrug and say “Well, be thankful you only have girls!”. What a crock!! I know PLENTY of parents who have boys who are very well behaved.

Now, I’m not talking about little kids like 2 or 3 years old. I mean kids who know better. 5, 7 or 8 year old terrors. You can always tell the parents who actually discipline their kids to those who don’t. The lazy ones always have the excuses such as “Boys will be boys” or crap like that. They always try to blame it on the gender. I have seen girls just as wild.

Warren Zevon said it best, though very tongue in cheek, with his song “Excitable Boy”:

Well, he went down to dinner in his Sunday best
Excitable boy, they all said
And he rubbed the pot roast all over his chest
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he’s just an excitable boy

He took in the four a.m. show at the Clark
Excitable boy, they all said
And he bit the usherette’s leg in the dark
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he’s just an excitable boy

He took little Susie to the Junior Prom
Excitable boy, they all said
and he raped her and killed her, then he took her home
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he’s just an excitable boy
After ten long years they let him out of the Home
Excitable boy, they all said
And he dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he’s just an excitable boy

Let’s get a moratorium, not on wild kids, but on the parents who just sit there and shrug and do nothing.